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Theocracy
Theocracy is a form of government in which a deity is officially recognized as the civil Ruler and official policy is governed by officials regarded as divinely guided, or is pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religion or religious group. From the perspective of the theocratic government, "God himself is recognized as the head" of the state, hence the term theocracy, from the Greek "rule of God", a term used by Josephus for the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. A theocracy may have an administrative hierarchy of the government identical with the administrative hierarchy of the religion, or it may have two 'arms,' but with the state administrative hierarchy subordinate to the religious hierarchy. Taken literally or strictly, theocracy means rule by God or gods and refers primarily to an internal "rule of the heart", especially in its biblical application. The common, generic use of the term, as defined above in terms of rule by a church or analogous religious leadership, would be more accurately described as an ecclesiocracy. In a pure theocracy, the civil leader is believed to have a direct personal connection with God. For example, a prophet like Moses led the Israelites, and the prophet Muhammad ruled the early Muslims. Law proclaimed by the ruler is also considered a divine revelation, and hence the law of God. An ecclesiocracy, on the other hand, is a situation where the religious leaders assume a leading role in the state, but do not claim that they are instruments of divine revelation. For example, the prince-bishops of the European Middle Ages, where the bishop was also the temporal ruler. The papacy in the Papal States occupied a middle ground between theocracy and ecclesiocracy, since the pope did not claim he is a prophet who receives revelation from God, but merely the (in rare cases infallible) interpreter of already-received revelation. Religiously endorsed monarchies fall between these two poles, according to the relative strengths of the religious and political organs. Theocracy should be distinguished from other, secular, forms of government that have a state religion, or are merely influenced by theological or moral concepts, and Monarchy held "By the Grace of God". In the most common usage of the term, some civil rulers are leaders of the dominant religion (e.g., the Byzantine emperor as patron of the head of the official Church); the government claims to rule on behalf of God or a higher power, as specified by the local religion, and divine approval of government institutions and laws. These characteristics apply also to a caesaropapist regime. The Byzantine Empire however was not theocratic since the patriarch answered to the emperor, not vice versa; similarly in Tudor England the crown forced the church to break away from Rome so the royal (and, especially later, parliamentary) power could assume full control of the now Anglican hierarchy and confiscate most church property and income. Secular governments can also coexist with a state religion or delegate some aspects of civil law to religious communities. For example, in Israel marriage is governed by officially recognized religious bodies who each provide marriage services for their respected adherents, yet no form of civil marriage (free of religion, for atheists, for example) exists nor marriage by non-recognized minority religions. India similarly delegates control of marriage and some other civil matters to the religious communities, in large part as a way of accommodating its Muslim minority. Etymology The word theocracy originates from the Greek people meaning "the rule of God". This in turn derives from the Ancient Greek θεός (theos), meaning "god", and κρατέω (krateo), meaning "to rule." Thus the meaning of the word in Greek was "rule by god(s)" or human incarnation(s) of god(s). It was first coined by Josephus Flavius in the first century A.D. to describe the characteristic government for Jews. Josephus argued that while the Greeks recognized three types of government: monarchy, aristocracy, and anarchy, the Jews were unique in that they had a system of government that did not fit into those categories. Josephus understood theocracy as a fourth form of government in which only God and his law is sovereign. Josephus' definition was widely accepted until the Enlightenment era, when the term started to collect more universalistic and negative connotations, especially in Hegel's hands. The first recorded English use was in 1622, with the meaning "sacerdotal government under divine inspiration" (as in Biblical Israel before the rise of kings); the meaning "priestly or religious body wielding political and civil power" is recorded from 1825. Current theocracies Christian theocracies Holy See (Vatican City) Following the unification of Italy, Vatican City became the last surviving territory of the former Papal States. In 1929, the State of Vatican City was formally recognized as an independent state through treaties with the Italian government. The head of state of the Vatican is the pope, elected by the College of Cardinals, an assembly of Senatorial-princes of the Church, who are usually clerics, appointed as Ordinaries, but in the past have also included men who were not bishops nor clerics. A pope is elected for life, and voting is limited to cardinals under 80 years of age. A Secretary for Relations with States, directly responsible for international relations, is appointed by the pope. The Vatican legal system is rooted in canon law but ultimately is decided by the pope; the Bishop of Rome as the Supreme Pontiff, "has the fullness of legislative, executive and judicial powers."Although the laws of Vatican City come from the secular laws of Italy, under article 3 of the Law of the Sources of the Law, provision is made for the supplementary application of the “laws promulgated by the Kingdom of Italy.” The government of the Vatican can also be considered an ecclesiocracy (ruled by the Church) Islamic states or Islamic theocracies An Islamic state is a state that has adopted Islam, specifically Sharia, as its foundations for political institutions, or laws, exclusively, and has implemented the Islamic ruling system khilafah (Arabic: خلافة), and is therefore a theocracy. Although there is much debate as to which states or groups operate strictly according to Islamic Law, Sharia is the official basis for state laws in the following countries: Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Oman and Iran. In Nigeria, the constitution provides that states may elect to use Shari'a laws and courts, though non-Muslims are not required in any state to submit to Shari'a jurisdiction and adherence varies by state. Saudi Arabia maintains religious courts for all aspects of law and has religious police to maintain social compliance. Also Iran maintains religious courts for all aspects of law and has religious police to maintain social compliance, while its government is described by the US Central Intelligence Agency as a "theocratic republic". Iran's head of state, or Supreme Leader, is appointed by an elected body called Assembly of Experts. The Council of Guardians, considered part of the executive branch of government, is responsible for determining if legislation is in line with Islamic law and customs (the Sharia), and can bar candidates from elections, and greenlight or ban investigations into the election process. Pakistan has Islam as its only official religion and its Federal Shariat Court has the duty of striking down any law not complying with the Sharia code of Islamic law; however, ruling falls upon legal scholars who, while required to be Muslim, are not religious clergy. Central Tibetan Administration The Central Tibetan Administration, colloquially known as the Tibetan government in exile, is a Tibetan exile organisation with a state-like internal structure. According to its charter, the position of head of state of the Central Tibetan Administration belongs ex officio to the current Dalai Lama, a religious hierarch. In this respect, it continues the traditions of the former government of Tibet, which was ruled by the Dalai Lamas and their ministers, with a specific role reserved for a class of monk officials. On March 14, 2011, at the 14th Dalai Lama's suggestion, the parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration began considering a proposal to remove the Dalai Lama's role as head of state in favor of an elected leader. States with official state religion Having a state religion is not sufficient to be a theocracy. Many countries have a state religion without government directly deriving its powers from a divine authority, or direct government powers exercised by religious authority. Historic states with theocratic aspects The largest and best known theocracies in history were the Umayyad and early Abassid Caliphate, and the Papal States. And as with any other state or empire, pragmatism was part of the politics of these de jure theocracies. Antiquity The imperial cults in Ancient Egypt and elsewhere deified the ruling monarch, so that the state religion was dedicated to the worship of the ruler as a deity, or the incarnation of a deity. Early Israel was ruled by Judges before instituting a monarchy. The Judges were believed to be representatives of YHWH or Jehovah God. In ancient and medieval Christianity, Caesaropapism is the doctrine where a head of state is at the same time the head of the church. Christian Geneva, during the period of John Calvin's greatest influence and the Massachusetts Bay Colony of the "Puritans" had many characteristics of Protestant theocracies. During the short reign (1494–1498) of Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican priest, the city of Florence could have been considered a theocracy. During his rule, un-Christian books, statues, poetry, and other items were burned (in the Bonfire of the Vanities), sodomy was made a capital offense, and other Christian practices became law. Although having a lay ruler (the King of Jerusalem) the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1299) is considered to have some theocratic influences. Also the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector is also considered to have a considerable amount of theocratic influence. The Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace, the rebel faction of the Taiping Rebellion in 1860s Qing China was a heterodox Christian Theocracy led by the self-proclaimed younger brother of Jesus Christ, Hong Xiuquan. This theocratic state fought one of the most destructive wars in history, essentially being a haphazard proto - Communist military dictatorship, against the Qing Dynasty for fifteen years before being crushed following the fall of the capital Nanking. Mormonism Another ecclesiocracy was the administration of the short-lived State of Deseret, an independent entity briefly organized in the American West by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its original borders stretched from western Colorado to the southern California coast. When the Mormons arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake in 1847, the Great Basin was still a part of Mexico and had no secular government. As a result, Brigham Young administered the region both spiritually and temporally through the highly organized and centralized Melchizedek Priesthood. This original organization was based upon a concept called theodemocracy, a governmental system combining Biblical theocracy with mid-19th-century American political ideals, including heavy reliance upon the U.S. Constitution. The treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo resulted in the Mexican Cession by which Deseret was incorporated into the United States. In 1849, the Saints organized a secular government in Utah, although many ecclesiatical leaders maintained their positions of secular power. The Mormons also petitioned Congress to have Deseret admitted into the Union as a state. However, under the Compromise of 1850, Utah Territory was created and Brigham Young was appointed governor. In this situation, Young still stood as head of the LDS Church as well as Utah's secular government. After the abortive Utah War of 1857–1858, the replacement of Young by an outside Federal Territorial Governor, the eventual resolution of controversies regarding plural marriage, and accession by Utah to statehood, the apparent temporal aspects of LDS theodemocracy receded markedly. However, — like many Christians, Jews, and Muslims — Latter-day Saints regard some form of theocracy with God as the head (king) of a chiliastic world government to be the true political ideal. But, until the Second Coming of Christ, the Mormons teach in their 12th Article of Faith: submission to the powers that be. But true to their beliefs in individual liberty and moral accountability, they exhibit a strong preference for democratic-republican, representative government as embodied in the Constitution of the United States. Montenegro Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro offers a singular example of monarchs willingly turning their power to ecclesiastic authority (Montenegrin Orthodox), as the last of the House of Crnojević (styled Grand Voivode, not sovereign princes) did, in order to preserve national unity before the Ottoman onslaught as a separate millet under an autochthonous ethnarch. When Montenegro re-established secular dynastic succession by the proclamation of princedom in 1851, it did so in favor of the last Prince-bishop, who changed his style from Vladika i upravitelj Crne Gore i Brde "Vladika (Bishop) and Ruler of Montenegro and Brda" to Po Bozjoj milosti knjaz i gospodar Crne Gore i Brde "By the grace of God Prince and Sovereign of Montenegro and Brda", thus rendering his de facto dynasty (the Petrović-Njegoš family since 1696) a hereditary one. Islam Islam for centuries successfully implemented a theocracy. Starting from the time when the Prophet Muhammad established the Islamic State in Medina in the 7th century all the way to the early 20th century when the last Caliphate was dissolved in Turkey. After the time of the Prophet, Caliphs (from the Arabic word Khalifah which means successor), would rule according to the Law of Islam, which consists of the law found in the Quran and in the narrations from the Prophet. Although the Caliphs did not receive revelation directly from Allah as did the Prophet, they were required to base all of their decrees on some evidence found in the revealed text. This connection with the revealed text demonstrated that Allah was the ultimate authority. Buddhism Unified religious rule in Tibet began in 1642, when the Fifth Dalai Lama allied with the military power of the Mongol Gushri Khantoconsolidatethe political power and center control around his office as head of the Gelug school. This form of government is known as the dual system of government. Prior to 1642, particular monasteries and monks had held considerable power throughout Tibet, but had not achieved anything approaching complete control, though power continued to be held in a diffuse, feudal system after the ascension of the Fifth Dalai Lama. Power in Tibet was held by a number of traditional elites, including members of the nobility, the heads of the major Buddhist sects (including their various tulkus), and various large and influential monastic communities. Political power was sometimes used by monastic leaders to suppress rival religious schools through the confiscation of property and direct violence. Social mobility was somewhat possible through the attainment of a monastic education, or recognition as a reincarnated teacher, but such institutions were dominated by the traditional elites and governed by political intrigue. Non-Buddhists in Tibet were members of an outcast underclass. The Bogd Khaanate period of Mongolia (1911-1919) is also cited as a former Buddhist theocracy. Alleged theocracies United States of America Critics have argued that the US state of Utah is a theocracy. They point out that all of the state's representatives in Congress, all of its Supreme Court, 90% of its legislature and 80% of its state and federal judges belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In June 2012, the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit against government officials in Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah, for alleged civil rights violations, including acting as de facto agents for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - a Mormon sect that split off in order to continue the practice of polygamy - denying ex-members and non-members of the Church access to everything from police services to housing and utilities. Fictional theocracies Depictions of a fictional society dominated by a theocracy recur in science fiction, speculative fiction and fantasy. Such depictions are mostly dystopian, and in some cases humorous or satirical; positively presented theocracies are very much the exception. *''The Earthquake in Chile'', By Heinrich von Kleist (1807) *''Voyagers VI The Return, By Ben Bova'' *''If This Goes On—/Revolt in 2100'' by Robert Heinlein (1940, revised and expanded 1953) *''Gather, Darkness'' by Fritz Leiber (1943) *''The Lovers'' by Philip Jose Farmer (1952 novella, expanded to full length 1961, revised 1977) http://www.amazon.com/review/RJQPCXXO0IGKJ *''A Woman a Day'' (also "Moth and Rust" and "The Day of Timestop") by Philip Jose Farmer (1953 novella, expanded to full length 1960, same universe as "The Lovers") *''Messiah'' by Gore Vidal (1954) ISBN 0-14-118039-0 *''The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett (1955).'' * The John Grimes novels by A. Bertram Chandler (1950's and 1960's) include a rare positively depicted theocracy. On the world Tharn, the progressive priesthood of a religion resembling Buddhism actively promotes science and technology and confronts a cabal of reactionary robber barons. *''Lord of Light'' by Roger Zelazny (1967) *''The Last Starship from Earth'' by John Boyd (1968) *''The Goblin Tower'' by L. Sprague de Camp (1968) (episode set in the theocratic city-state of Tarxia) *''The Stork Factor'' by Zach Hughes (1975) *''Run, Come See Jerusalem!'' by Richard C. Meredith (1976) - an Alternate United States defeats a Nazi Germany which came much closer to world domination than in our history, but in the aftermath falls under the power of a ruthless home-grown "Prophet". *''The Handmaid's Tale'' by Margaret Atwood (1985). Set in a fictional stereotypical Christian republic with dictatorship called "Republic" of Gilead in post-apocalyptic ruins of United States. *''Noninterference'' by Harry Turtledove (1987) http://www.sfreviews.net/noninterference.html. An illegal interference by Earth agents with a humanoid alien race inadvertently turns a local woman into an immortal, and she eventually becomes the revered Goddess of a planet-wide religion - but all is well, since she is a highly benevolent and good hearted person who makes only a positive use of her complete religious and secular power. *''The Shield of Time'' by Poul Anderson (1990). Alternate 20th Century Europe under total control of the Catholic Church, with all dissent immediately crushed by the Inquisition. *''Candle'' by John Barnes (2000) . New York: Tor. ISBN 0-8125-8968-8. *''The Sky So Big and Black'' by John Barnes (2003) . New York: Tor. ISBN 0-7653-4222-7 *''The Accidental Time Machine'' by Joe Haldeman (2007) * The land of Karse in Mercedes Lackey's Velgarth novels - in earlier appearances the ruling priesthood is corrupt and oppressive, but later it is reformed and much improved by Solaris, the first woman to gain the combined religious and secular power in Karse. * The Church Universal and Triumphant in S. M. Stirling's Emberverse series * In Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Pontifex Mansel leads the Theocracy of Rausten. * In Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Begnion is a theocracy worshipping the goddess Ashera. It is ruled by Apostle Sanaki. * The alien alliance known as "the Covenant" in the Halo series. * Atlantis in Age of Mythology is supposed to be governed by a theocrat. The politics are not explored however, and it is not stated how the theocrat kept himself in power when the gods abandoned the civilisation in the expansion pack's campaign. * The Amarr Empire in EVE Online * The Imperium of Man from Warhammer 40,000, administered by the High Lords of Terra in the God-Emperor's name. * The Air nomads from Avatar: Last Airbender & Legend of Korra, A theocratic senate that was kill by fire nation and let a war lasting century and later revived years later that only 4 Airbenders living in other nation 70 years in legend of korra. *Yacothia From Sims Medieval is mention theocratic city-state and is the holy city/birthplace of Jacobanism, as it's the birthplace of prophet Jacob and the home of the Proxy, run by a High Priest or Priestess. It's military consists of a famous order of Jacoban paladins known as Jacob's Sword. Category:Page Category:Types of government Category:Types of Monarchies